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One Game, some things, v1.51?
1. For those of you who don't follow this stuff too closely, it's worth noting that Rogers Sportsnet is getting out of basketball coverage. In broad strokes, this means nothing. The games will all be shown somewhere, with TSN, CBC and The Score carrying the lion's share, depending on what Raptors TV does.[amp]nbsp;
But an unintended consequence is the possibility that Jack Armstrong's brand of Brooklynese will be heard a lot less around the Raptors than it is now.[amp]nbsp;
This, of course, would be a shame. If being a colour commentator is the art of making the complicated simple and the simple entertaining, Jack's got some game in his pallet.
Here's a few nuggets from last night's fourth quarter alone, as Jack picks up on set-ups by the Swirsk:
On the three-point play by Delfino that put the Raptors up five after Charlotte had cut it to three -- “Impact. Come off the bench; do something to help your team. Don't look for guys to get you shots, go get one yourself.”
And: “Using that pump fake because they [the long, young Bobcats] because they go for every fake.”
That's two sharp bits of basketball insight on a single play.
Or this, on an otherwise simple pick-and-roll where Bosh ended up driving from the wing and getting fouled on the lay-in. Not only did Jack quickly point out that Jared Dudley was late on his rotation, which he was; but he added another solid gem: “It's so important when you're the point guard to know when to give it up to the guy on the cut. It's so crucial to lead him into play.”
And Jack can do it defensively. When Dudley snuck past a snoozing Jamario Moon to catch a pass for a lay-up, I picked up the gaffe after a couple of efforts with my PVR. Jack's live take was dead on: “That hurt them early in the game too, those weak side cuts Chuck, from weak side to strong side. You have to bang cutters, see the man and the ball and pressure the pass.” The Raptors did none of those things and got beat for an easy lay-up.
If you're a basketball nerd this is good stuff. The former Niagara University head coach doesn't dress it up more than it needs to be – it really is just basketball – but most important plays in a game have a big ‘why' waiting to be answered and Jack delivers with remarkable consistency.
But he's funny and goofy too – he can't help it, he grew up listening to Phil Rizzuto announced his beloved Yankees -- and best of all he does it with a authentic New York accent.
Some things are made for New York accents, and talking basketball is one of them. Just as the British Open sounds when being announced by the BBC, a New York accent brings basketball in touch with the roots of the city game.
And for Canadians of a certain vintage, it is a little taste of Jack Donahue, the long-time national team coach and another entertaining Irish Catholic boy from New York who helped lend some authenticity to the game here.
Coach Donahue died of natural causes. Nothing as dramatic in the offing for Jack -- he'll likely turn to doing more than the 30 or so NCAA games he did this year for ESPN depending on what unfolds with the broadcasting situation here.
But here's hoping something gets worked out so the man they call The Coach isn't silenced in Toronto any time soon.
2. Humphries ahead of Bargnani in the rotation now? How is the Italian hot-house flower going to manage that? It's good move though. If he can't shoot – and Bargnani can't consistently – he's not helping in other areas, so Mitchell might as well see if he can get something else from someone else.
3. Kind of a funny moment in the first quarter. After a switch Ford found himself one-on-one against Dudley. But Humphries had tiny Ray Felton on his back in the post. Who would win the war of wills? Never bet against the guy with the ball. Ford angrily waved off Hump and took (and made) a fadeaway 15-footer.
